Kate's Parents Visit 'Beautiful' New Grandson

The royal baby has arrived! The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, and Prince William welcomed their very first child on Monday.

UPDATE: Kate's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, paid a visit to the hospital where their daughter is staying and got their first look at their royal grandson. After the visit, the proud grandparents told reporters, "He's absolutely beautiful," and added that baby and mother are doing well. Prince William's father Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also paid a visit to the hospital on Tuesday.

Earlier, William and Kate released the following statement: "We would like to thank the staff at the Lindo Wing and the whole hospital for the tremendous care the three of us have received. We know it has been a very busy period for the hospital and we would like to thank everyone - staff, patients and visitors - for their understanding during this time."

Prince William's uncle Earl Spencer -- the younger brother of the late Princess Diana -- also issued a statement Tuesday on the royal birth. "We're all so pleased: it's wonderful news," Spencer said. "My father always told us how Diana was born on just such a blisteringly hot day, at Sandringham, in July, 1961. It's another very happy summer's day, half a century on."

Kate and William are expected to leave the hospital with the baby either later Tuesday night or on Wednesday morning.

"Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well," said an official notice announcing the birth at 4:24 p.m. Monday of the boy, who weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz.. At her side during the delivery was husband Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 31.
"We could not be happier," Prince William said in a short statement issued by Kensington Palace.

Prince Charles and Camilla issued a statement Monday on the royal birth. "Both my wife and I are overjoyed at the arrival of my first grandchild. It is an incredibly special moment for William and Catherine and we are so thrilled for them on the birth of their baby boy," the statement said. "Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone's life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time and we are eagerly looking forward to seeing the baby in the near future."

Prior to the delivery, the couple stayed mum about the sex of their
baby. But Kate sparked speculation after an appearance last March during which she reportedly alluded to possibly expecting a daughter.

Earlier this month, Queen Elizabeth decreed that the royal baby will be a prince, making him HRH Prince of Cambridge. He will be third in line to the British throne.

News initially broke about the Duke and Duchess' pregnancy in January when Kate was admitted to a London hospital to be treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, a more severe form of the nausea and vomiting that normally accompanies the early stages of pregnancy. She was just twelve weeks along at the time.